Finalists announced for Academy’s Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships

Oct 13, 2008 by Ian Evans

The 23rd annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has narrowed the field in the competiton down to ten scripts by 13 writers. Their scripts will now be read and judged by the Academy’s Nicholl Committee, which may award as many as five of the prestigious $30,000 fellowships.

This year’s finalists are (listed alphabetically by author):

• Jeremy Bandow, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hive
• Griffin Broadway, Brooklyn, New York, An Arabian Tale
• Nancy Froeschle, Portland, Oregon, and Stephen Trow, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, The Greater Glory
• Patricia Ann Hale, Brooklyn, New York, The Home of Positive Thinking
• Christina D. Hammonds Reed, Hacienda Heights, California, Heart Problems
• Ken Kristensen and Colin Marshall, Los Angeles, California, Out of Breath
• Jason A. Micallef, Santa Monica, California, Butter
• Eric Nazarian, Burbank, California, Giants
• Lee Patterson, Durham, England, Snatched
• Becky Peterson and William Bryant, Iowa City, Iowa, Ross

The finalists were selected from 5,224 scripts submitted for this year’s competition. The competition is open to any individual who has not sold or optioned a screenplay or teleplay for more than $5,000, or received a fellowship or prize that includes a “first look” clause, an option, or any other quid pro quo involving the writer’s work.

Fellowships are awarded with the understanding that the recipients will each complete a feature-length screenplay during their fellowship year. The Academy acquires no rights to the works of Nicholl fellows and does not involve itself commercially in any way with their completed scripts.